


Constellations

by ChromeHoplite



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 104th Training Corps - Freeform, Canon Era, Constellations, Exams, Fluff, Ink, Longing, M/M, Making Out, Post-Canon, Stars, Studying, jeanmarco, no more titan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:35:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9581027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromeHoplite/pseuds/ChromeHoplite
Summary: Between training, chores and exams, Jean Kirstein is having a hard time focusing on studying, until Marco proposes an alternative.“How well do you know my body, lover?” Marco crooned, sounding at once seductive and shy.





	

“I can’t do this, not tonight,” Jean groaned tossing aside the rolled-up parchment Shadis had given the 104 th class last week after a brief but intense study of navigation by use of constellations.

           He stretched out on his bottom bunk in the barracks, careful to put away his quill and inkwell on the ground by the head of his bed, then positioned his hands under his head and shut his eyes. His breaths evened out and the familiar sensation of falling was taking over his body. He could fall asleep so easily. Despite the series of examinations they were currently forced to undergo: First Aid, Gear Maintenance, Survival 101 and Navigation, they still had drills to practice and chores to do. One of their instructors had assigned both he and Eren to latrine duty AND mucking the stables on top of their regular chores as a result of yet another fight in the mess hall. That alone, without the training and studying would have been enough to make him feel as though he was sixty rather than a teenager.

And it didn’t help that the barracks were empty and so quiet; everyone else had opted to go out around midnight to try and study the constellations firsthand. Soon, the soft sound of the wind blowing in the tall grass just outside a nearby window had him wondering whether or not he was still awake or if he had found sleep at last.

A new rush of cool air flowed into the room and made the tiny hairs of his exposed skin stand as the door leading outside opened with a creak. As comfortable as he was, he wasn’t even the least bit tempted to look and see who had entered the designated sleeping space. When the mattress sagged beside him, he peeked through an eye and saw the appealingly freckled face of Marco Bodt staring back at him. He had made himself quite comfortable on his right side, having draped his left leg over Jean’s.

“All done studying?” Marco whispered into the skin of Jean’s neck as he carded his hand through his lover’s hair.

“Not even close. I just can’t anymore... too tired," he yawned then sighed at the feel of hot breath against his skin.

“You’ll fail if you don’t study, and if you fail…” Marco’s hand fell from Jean’s hair and he wrapped his arm around the sleepy boy’s torso.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won’t get into the M.P, right. To be honest, I’m starting to think it would just be easier to just go back home and run my mom’s bakery. A lot less risk associated with that.” He weaved his fingers into Marco’s with one hand and kept the other behind his head as he stared at the underside of the top bunk where he had carved J.K + M.B.

No sooner had the weight shifted beside him, Jean found Marco straddling his lap, elbows flanking the pillow under his head, both to avoid hitting his head on the upper bunk and so that there could be no chance of mistaking the urgency of the words that were forming on his lips.

“Don’t you dare. Don’t you even think of flunking out.” A shadow of a smile formed on Jean’s lips at the threat implicit in Marco’s usually calm demeanor.

“Come on Babe; honestly, if we don’t make M.P, do you really just want to throw your life away? Become Survey Corps titan bait?”

“I don’t have a bakery to go home to. I  _ need _ this, Jean. And if I don’t make it into the M.P, I need you by my side to keep me sane, to keep me safe, always.” Something akin of a smoldering fire lit in Marco’s eyes before he leaned his forehead against the boy beneath him. 

Jean removed the hand that was still under his head and held Marco’s face, a thumb ghosting over his lip before pulling him in for one, two, three chaste kisses. When he ran his tongue over the seam of the freckled boy’s mouth to deepen the kiss, Marco moved away, got up off the bed and sank onto the dusty floor. He patted the ground, eyes pleading, teasing and daring Jean to join him.

He shrugged. It never took much for Marco to work him up, so at this point he didn’t care  _ where  _ they made out. He took a seat next to him on the floor and tugged on the boy’s relaxed shirt to pull him closer. His beloved got on his knees and sat on his feet between Jean’s parted legs; but kept his distance, splaying his right hand against his lover’s chest to keep him out of reach.

“No, we’re studying,” Marco said more firmly than usual for his lovely tone.

Jean groaned. “Marco, if I look at those maps one more time, I’m going to puke.”

“Gross, don’t do that. No, we’re not going to use the maps of the sky,” he said grabbing the nearby quill as he placed it in his Jean’s hand, curling his fingers around it. He held it with a confused expression, especially when Marco took off his shirt.

“How well do you know my body, lover?” Marco crooned, sounding at once seductive and shy.

He knew Marco’s body better than anyone else’s, better than his own. His face, more so. Was intimately aware of the flecks of green that contoured Marco’s outer irises while the rest of them were drowning in rich pools of chocolate that had long been unavailable for consumption. He knew Marco’s button nose, and loved it pressed next to his own when they shared breath. Knew that beautiful mouth, the feel of the thin upper and full lower lip pressed against his tongue, and how they got swollen when they got up an hour earlier than their bunkmates to make out in the shower. He knew each and every lovely freckle that adorned his face and thought them more beautiful than any and all of the stars in the sky.

Jean smiled, then nodded, understanding what Marco was proposing, and kissed the tip of his nose.

“Okay, the easiest constellation to find for navigational purposes is Ursa Major, draw it here,” Marco said gently pointing to a spot on his right cheek.

Jean dipped his quill in the nearby inkwell, tapped off the excess ink, held Marco’s right cheek lovingly in his hand and connected the freckles, using Shadis’ map as reference for the shape of the constellation.

They continued that way, with Marco explaining the relative positions of important constellations, Polaris to direct them northwards and Orion since it rose in the east and set in the west.

When they ran out of space on his face, they moved to the more sparsely situated freckles of Marco’s neck, shoulders and collar bones.  When Jean got the position of Ursa Minor wrong, Marco smeared the ink with a hand across his chest to his heart. The black of the ink stood out beautifully against his pale skin in the moonlight, darker where Jean had drawn in the stars incorrectly, and lightening the further he pushed it away from that area. Night turning into dawn. 

When they heard the distant ruckus of their group and Eren’s boisterous laughter, Marco kissed Jean passionately, smudging the almost dry ink over his lover’s clean face and shirt, staining both. When the door clicked and the voices carried inside, Marco stood abruptly, pulling Jean to his feet.

“What the hell happened here?” Eren said smirking, eyes roaming over his ink-covered peers.

“Just studying,” Marco answered coyly, grabbing Jean by the wrist and pulling him towards the exit. “It’s late, we have an exam tomorrow and you all need your sleep. Showers are off limits tonight,” he said with unusual confidence, stunning Eren Jaeger into silence as he watched the lovers leave the dormitory.

***

Five years later and late at night, Jean was making his way from the Capital having discussed who would oversee the destruction of the wall that had held humanity captive for over a century. With the titans finally eliminated, the inhabitants of Paradise Island were free to settle in new, unexplored areas and Captain Jean Kirstein was leading a prominent group of them off the island to do so. 

He packed his gear, extra clothes, his sketch book, charcoal pencils and his maps- but never any star charts. He had memorized those, had received top grades in the examination and through nightly practice during his training, became the best navigator in all of the Survey Corps. And when he retired to bed each night, and waited for slumber to claim him, he still saw the way the ink had colored the creamy soft freckled skin of the boy he had loved so much, for such a short time.

He glanced up at the sky and started situating himself among the stars, hoping that one day they would lead him back to Marco Bodt.


End file.
